A. Verbal Learning is typically associated with
the memorization and retention of lists of words, in order to describe basic
elements of associative learning.

B. Verbal learning tends to involve more than
just the memorization of words.

1. Many stimuli such as pictures, odors,
locations, etc. can be studied

2. The types of mental events that occur in
verbal learning studies go beyond passive memorization, as learners can play a
very active role in manipulating experimental stimuli.

II. THE EBBINGHAUS LEGACY

A. Early work on verbal learning--Herman
Ebbinghaus.

B. Ebbinghaus served as his own subject, and his
procedure involved the serial learning of nonsense syllables.

1. Ebbinghaus would memorize lists of these
syllables until he could recall them perfectly, setting different accuracy
criteria for different experiments.

C. Savings-- comparing the number of trials
required to learn a list during an initial session to the number of trials
required during a second session.

D. Forgetting curve--the amount of forgetting
that occurs immediately after learning is substantial, but after that initial
drop in performance, memory loss is very gradual.

III. SERIAL LEARNING

A. Serial Learning involves having subjects learn
a list of items according to the order in which the items appear in the list.

B. Serial Position Effect-- lower recall error
rates for the first (primacy effect) and last few (recency effect) items on the
list, with higher recall error rates for items appearing in the middle of the
list.

1. Starting and ending points may possess some
type of distinctiveness to set them apart from the rest of the list.

2. Early and late items may not have to compete
as much for rehearsal resources as the middle items.

3. Middle items have more of a likelihood of
being interfered with from earlier and later items, while the initial and
terminal items do not have to face as much interference.

4. Some have argued that the serial position
effect is due to the working of different memory systems.

B. When the items pairs are committed to memory,
the presentation of the first word (the stimulus word) should evoke the second
word (the response word). So presenting BOAT should elicit a response of CHAIR.

C. Certain difficulties can arise in PA learning.

1. If the items used as Stimulus words in a PA
task are too similar, discrimination ability decreases, leading to
errors in recall. boat-dog, barge- table , canoe-light

3. The connections between individual stimulus
and response items is also mediated by certain factors.

a. Preexisting associations between the stimulus
and response items can either help or hinder the association process. pre-existing
table-kitchen, whistle-train make it more difficult to learn table-train,
whistle-kitchen

b. Cognitive Elaboration can aid in the
association process. The Relationship Construction Hypothesis suggests
that increasing the number of connections between items to be remembered can
also aid recall; (e.g., pictorial and verbal representation of a stimulus is
better than either of these alone. table-aardvark

c. Associations between stimulus and response
items also tend to move only in the forward direction
if learn baby-boy, may not get boy-_____

b. Categorical Clustering--breaking a large
number of specific words down into several smaller groups organized by
conceptual similarity, such as COLORS, ANIMALS, PLANTS, etc. daisy, red, pansy, black, aqua, rose

c. Subjective Organization involves using
idiosyncratic associations that are relevant only to individuals.

VI. RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE SEVERAL TASKS

A. The evidence that has been collected on the
different verbal learning tasks suggests that verbal learning is not a single
process--many different strategies result in verbal learning.

B. Research shows that if one wants to obtain a
valid representation of one’s memory skills, different tests must be used to tap
different memory abilities.

VII. APPLICATION: MNEMONICS

A. Mnemonic devices are different methodologies
to aid in the encoding and retrieval of information.

B. Acronym mnemonics--list of initial letters of
critical words that allows one to retrieve information (e.g., representing the
Great Lakes as HOMES).

C. Another general class of mnemonics are
referred to as Keyword Mnemonics.

1. The Keyword Method involves a type of
paired-associate learning, where a mediating word is used to associate two
to-be-remembered items.

2. The Narrative Story Method involves creating a
story that contains all of the words in a to-be-remembered list.